Danish Oil problem

Sorry for making an on-topic post, but I've got a bit of an odd
problem with some danish oil and I'm not sure how to proceed from
here.
The project is hard maple, I sanded to 220 then rubbed in a coat of
Danish oil with 400 grit wet-or-dry. Let it sit for about a half hour
then rubbed off the excess. Two days later I repeated the process. Two
days after that I wiped on (no sanding this time) a fairly heavy coat
with the idea of coming back to wipe it off in the normal half hour.
Some medium disasters broke out and I didn't get back to it until
about 24 hours later. The finish is sticky and rather awful. It won't
wipe off, obviously, and I'm not sure what to do next.
Should I wipe on more oil (maybe with the 400 grit?), expecting it to
soften the existing coat and allow me to wipe it down?
Should I let it dry for a couple more days then sand it down and try
again?
Will paint thinner/laquer thinner/everclear/etc. soften the finish and
allow it to be wiped off?
This is really annoying, since it is a project that has been sitting
unfinished for more than 3 years. I started it just before moving to
Oregon and up until last summer I didn't have a place to work on
stuff. I finally decided over Christmas that I would get it finished
up - and now I've boogered up the finish.
Before the last coat of oil it was looking real good, with nice depth
to the (pretty plain) grain and the color I was looking for. If I can
get it properly wiped down and another coat or so on it I was going to
wipe on a *thin* coat of shellac to bring up the shine. I've used that
combination before and it really looked good.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com

I experimented with the turps a bit. It seems like it will make more
of a mess than I already have, so I think I'm going to let it dry a
few days and then try sanding it back.
Total pain on something that was going very nicely up to this point. I
just have too many interruptions to get good work done some times.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com

This isn't how I use Danish oil. Two days seems long that early on.
I try to wipe it on once an hour or so for most of a workday,
then hit it every evening for a week or so. 2 days seems to me
to be too long.

Yes, it's done soaking in by now and has nowhere to go.

I think that'll just make a gummy situation worse. ?

I think I might go with that approach. But, will it harden
enough? How do you feel about cabinet scrapers?

I guess that's why I'd be reluctant to hit it with thinner at this
point - the finish that has penetrated the wood, you want to leave there.
A mechanical removal from the surface seems like what you need now.
Scraping or sanding may be the answer. I don't think dissolving is.
For what it's worth, I had the same problem with maple and Watco Danish Oil,
for similar reasons. Never penetrated very far and dried sticky.
Scraper was the answer in my case.
Dave Hinz

Try wiping with a cloth soaked in mineral spirits. The oil should soak into
the wood, but in this case you left it on the surface to dry, which, as you
discovered, it doesn't do well. You want to wash the coating off the
surface while doing as little damage as possible to the wood itself. Good
luck.
Steve

Tried this a bit too and it seems to make it more gummy, but not
removable, so let it cure and sand it sound like the best option right
now. It is actually drying out quite nicely this evening, but, since I
tried to wipe it down after it had gotten gummy the surface is all
munged. The part I just left alone looks good except for some streaks
where it was laid down thicker.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com

It's really a pain when life gets in the way of our art, isn't it?
I screwed up a project in just such a manner. Now, I go to the shellac for
maple a lot earlier. Sometimes as early as without oil at all, other
times, with a thinned wipe of boiled linseed oil. But the shellac really
gives the color and the build. And the wax and white 3M pad cuts the
gloss.
I think the scraper is going to be your friend, unfortunately. Can you
bring the project in where it's warm for five or six days?
Patriarch

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